Step One: Deal with Anxiety

Well it’s no wonder that you are worrying to death for your PhD defense which you definitely should not in order to improve your performance.

I really took pride that I am a very strong person and there is not much that can rattle me. And even if I get tensed about something, no one else will be able to find what is going on inside me. Boy was I wrong!

Being a mother translates to being sleep deprived and being a PhD Scholar who has given defense in a week means extremely nervous and anxious. I was both. Due to my responsibilities as a mother I was not able to devote as much time to prepare as I would like to and that was adding up to the agony. Not only I had to read my thesis and defend it, I have to do it with confidence and ease. I had seen many presentations where the scholar had done their job honestly and have added value to the research community but they were extremely nervous while facing the committee and that made their presentation somewhat less impactful. I was worried of that too.

The most common and helpful advice I got was that I am the expert on my topic. The time I have spent and the Research I have done made me the most knowledgeable person on that particular topic in the entire room. I know my thesis inside and out. I know all the answers. I have nothing to worry about.